Hunter Biden was linked to several companies that tried to get privileged treatment from the Delaware state government while Joe Biden was vice president, emails from the president’s son’s abandoned laptop show.
The president’s son served as a mediator for companies in Delaware looking to bounce back from the recession of 2008 by personally contacting the Delaware Economic Development Office (DEDO), according to the emails. Hunter Biden’s involvement in foreign business dealings — including his time on the board of Ukrainian energy giant Burisma and his dealings with Chinese company CEFC — have previously been heavily reported on, but his personal involvement in Delaware’s businesses has not received the same coverage. (RELATED: ANALYSIS: All The Times Joe Biden Appeared In Hunter’s Business Schemes)
The Delaware News Journal was the first to report on the emails about Hunter Biden’s business connections in Delaware, publishing a story on the topic on Monday. The conversations between the president’s son and state officials do not appear to violate any laws, but “most people in politics that care about ethics … take pains to avoid this situation,” Jessica Tillipman, a professor of government contracts law at George Washington University, told the outlet.
The emails show Hunter Biden directly interacting with Delaware government officials while he was working with his financial firm, Rosemont Seneca Partners, as well as other officials using Hunter Biden’s name in correspondence about business dealings.
In one April, 12, 2010, email, a DEDO staffer named Patricia Cannon told Hunter that they would “pull out the stops” for two of his client companies, DuCool and Aqua Sciences, as they considered moving to the state. DEDO was a Delaware government cabinet-level agency responsible for attracting new businesses.
“Patty- Thanks for a great meeting. They are excited to explore the opportunities DE has to offer. Talk to you soon,” Hunter wrote to Cannon, emails show.
“I promise to pull out the stops!!” Cannon responded directly to Hunter Biden’s Rosemont Seneca email.
The Biden-DEDO connection goes back to when Joe Biden was a senator. Biden’s brother-in-law, Bruce Saunders, credited the now-president with securing his appointment as director of DEDO in the 1970s, the New York Times reported.
Hunter Biden’s lawyer did not respond to an inquiry from the Daily Caller.
Cannon’s current employer, the Delaware Division of Small Business, told the Caller the division has “no comment.”
DUBLIN, IRELAND – APRIL 14: In this handout image provided by the Irish Government, US President Joe Biden departs Dublin Airport on Air Force One with his sister Valerie and son Hunter on April 14, 2023 in Dublin, Ireland. (Photo by Julien Behal/Irish Government via Getty Images)
Another example in the emails includes a business official using the younger Biden’s name in an introductory conversation.
A Feb. 3, 2010, email shows Wade Randlett, CEO of Next Fuels and a former staffer on the Obama-Biden transition team, emailing then-Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, a Democrat, about developing a green energy venture in the state. Markell used his “secret” email address in this interaction with Randlett, choosing to go by the alias Alan Jackson. The use of the secret email was reported in local Delaware media in 2015.
Randlett began the email to Markell by name-dropping Hunter Biden. “Our mutual friend Hunter Biden suggested that I give you a quick email outline of the green jobs opportunity that we see for the Valero site in Delaware City,” he wrote.
Markell responded by directing Randlett to Alan Levin, then-director of DEDO.
Markell and Randlett did not respond to the Caller’s inquiries about the relationship they had with Hunter Biden.
WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 20: President Joe Biden embraces his family after being sworn in during his inauguration on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol on January 20, 2021 in Washington, DC. During today’s inauguration ceremony Biden becomes the 46th President of the United States. (Photo by Jonathan Ernst-Pool/Getty Images)
In an April 20, 2010, email, Levin introduced Randlett to another potential partner for the Delaware City project, nothing that Randlett “came to us at DEDO through the Vice President’s Office.”
Levin told News Journal that he used the phrase “the Vice President’s office,” which Joe Biden occupied at the time, in an effort to gain “credibility.”
“If the mention of the VP’s Office in the email was authentic, it was probably an effort by me to add credibility to the venture again because I wanted as many jobs created as possible,” Levin told the outlet.
He reportedly added that there was never “any pressure brought” to DEDO to give preferential treatment to the Biden family.
“The VP was not involved,” Levin said in a statement to the Daily Caller.
The White House Counsel’s office and the Biden campaign did not respond to inquiries from the Caller.
The White House responded to recent allegations surrounding Hunter Biden’s foreign business ties to Joe Biden, saying that “the president was not in business with his son.”
The House Oversight committee released a report in May alleging that Biden family members received $10 million from foreign sources, including Romania and China, while Joe Biden was vice president. Committee members also viewed a confidential FBI informant FD-1023 form, which that alleged Joe Biden was involved in a “pay-to-play” scheme with Burisma CEO Mykola Zlochevsky.